End finding air for winding machine

ABSTRACT

In a winding machine of the kind wherein a spindle is supported for rotation about its axis in driving engagement with a drum for winding of the yarn onto the spindle to form a yarn package and for arcuate movement about an axis spaced therefrom so that the spindle can move relative to the drum as the diameter of the package changes, and a yarn detector operable in response to a broken yarn to reverse the rotation of the drum and hence the package to effect unwinding of the yarn to aid in finding the broken end; linkage operable in response to operation of the yarn detector to raise one end of the package from the drum without disengaging the driving engagement of the other end from the drum to free the broken end of the yarn from the surface of the package and the drum. The machine includes an end finding nozzle arranged to receive the freed end of yarn and conduct it to a knotter.

MACHINE [75] Inventor: Samuel L. Abbott, Wilton, NH.

[73] Assignee: Abbott Machine Co., Inc., Wilton,

[22] Filed: Nov. 25, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 526,959

[52] US. Cl. I. 242/35.6 R; 242/37 R [51] Int. Cl. B65H 54/22; B65H 63/02 [58] Field of Search 242/356 R, 35.6 E, 35.5 R, 242/18 DD, 18.1, 36. 37 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,915,241 6/1933 Reece 242/18.1 3,168,257 2/1965 Perry 242/355 R 3,291,406 12/1966 Jenny 1 242/356 R 3,399,840 9/1968 Hayashi et a1. 242/356 R X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 427,124 4/1935 United Kingdom 242/18.l 872,608 7/1961 United Kingdom 242/181 "Unite States Patent 1 1 [111 3,923,263 Abbott 1 1 Dec. 2, 1975 1 END FINDING AIR FOR WINDING Primary Examiner-Stanley N. Gilreath Attorney, Agent, or FirmRobert T. Gammons [57] ABSTRACT In a winding machine of the kind wherein a spindle is supported for rotation about its axis in driving engagement with a drum for winding of the yarn onto the spindle to form a yarn package and for arcuate movement about an axis spaced therefrom so that the spindle can move relative to the drum as the diameter of the package changes, and a yarn detector operable in response to a broken yarn to reverse the rotation of the drum and hence the package to effect unwinding of the yarn to aid in finding the broken end; linkage operable in response to operation of the yarn detector to raise one end of the package from the drum without disengaging the driving engagement of the other end from the drum to free the broken end of the yarn from the surface of the package and the drum. The machine includes an end finding nozzle arranged to receive the freed end of yarn and conduct it to a knotter.

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Sheet 1 of 2 US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,923,263

END FINDING AIR FOR WINDING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF INVENTION This invention relates to winding machines of the kind shown in the Perry Pat. No. 3,168,257, wherein a spindle is supported for rotation about its axis in driving engagement with a driving drum for winding yarn onto the spindle. There is means for reversing the rotation of the driving drum when a broken yarn is detected to aid in finding the broken end and there is an end finding nozzle for picking the broken end from the surface of the package and delivering it to a knotter.

It would be expected that the reverse rotation of the winding drum would scuff the broken end of the yarn from the surface and that the centrifugal force of rotation would eject it outwardly so that it could be easily picked up by, for example an end finding nozzle such as employed in the aforesaid machine. In practice, however, if the end finding nozzle does not trap the free end as it travels by it is again pressed into the surface as it is rotated into engagement with the drum so that the picking operation is delayed by the turn and sometimes a number of turns before the end is trapped. It is the purpose of this invention to prevent the broken end from being repressed into the surface of the package by the drum during the reverse rotation of the package so that it can be more readily picked up by the end finding nozzle.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION As herein illustrated the invention comprises a winding machine wherein yarn is laid up on a spindle to form a package by driving engagement with a driving drum and wherein a yarn detector is provided, operative upon breakage of the yarn to reverse the rotation of the driving drum and hence the package to aid in finding a broken yarn end on the surface of the package and to raise one end of the package away from the driving drum without disengaging the other end so that the package continues to rotate and so that the broken end is flung out from the surface of the package free of the drum by the centrifugal force developed by the rotation of the package. The spindle on which the package is wound is supported for rotation about its axis and for arcuate movement about an axis parallel thereto so as to be movable relative to the driving drum as the diameter of the package changes and the support is designed to enable raising one end of the package from the driving drum without disengaging the other end therefrom. Specifically, the spindle support comprises an arm, to one end of which is mounted the spindle, a shaft pivotally supporting the opposite ends of the shaft, one of which is relatively fixed and the other relatively movable to permit tilting the shaft relative to one end, means connected to the one bearing element to effect tilting and means operable in conjunction with the reversible rotation of the drum to effect such tilting.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein;

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a single winding unit of the kind shown in the aforesaid Perry Pat. No. 3,168,257;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation as seen from the left side of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevation diagramatically showing and end finding nozzle adjacent the surface of the package for picking the freed end.

This invention relates to winding machines ofthe kind shown in the aforesaid Perry patent in which there are a plurality of winding heads 10 mounted, at uniformly spaced intervals abouta circular table 12, for rotation about a vertical axis relative to automatic tending means and is especially concerned with improved means for maintaining the broken end of a yarn free from the surface of the yarn package during the tending operation to facilitate entry of the end into a picking nozzle or similar device for transfer to a knotter. Since each winding head is identical the invention will be described herein with reference to a single head, it being understood that the novel construction employed herein is equally applicable to a single head winding machine.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, each winding head 10 comprises spaced vertically disposed side plate members 1414 mounted on the table 12. The side plate members 14l4 support a winding drum or cam 16, a spindle 18 upon which the package is to be formed, drive means 20 for rotating the winding drum to wind the yarn onto the spindle and for reversing its direction of rotation to unwind the package to aid in finding a broken end and presenting it to a knotter, a yarn detector linkage 22 responsive to a broken yarn to effect reversal of the drive means 20 and means 24 designed according to this invention to free the broken end of the yarn from the surface of the package during the reverse rotation of the package for better entry of the freed end into an end finding nozzle N, FIG. 3, which is moved into and out of operative position adjacent the surface of the package for picking the yarn and delivering it to a knotter (not shown herein) as disclosed in the aforesaid patent. The winding drum 16 is fixed to a shaft 26 rotatably mounted in suitable bearings in the side plate members 1414 for rotation about 'a horizontal axis. A pulley 28 mounted to the protruding end of the shaft 26 provides for rotating the drum and is connected by a belt 30 to a pulley 32 fixed to a cross shaft 34 supported by an arm 36 bolted to one of the side plate members 14. The pulley 32 is provided with a conical portion 32a and a cone shaped pulley 38 is pivotally supported in engagement with the conical portions 32a by an arm 40 pivotally supported intermediate its ends on the shaft 34. A link 46 pivotally connected at one end to the outer end of the arm 40 and at its other end to a weight 48 pivotally supported on one of the side plate members 14 normally holds the pulley 38 depressed into engagement with a driving member 44 so that the pulley 38 can be moved without disengaging it from the pulley 32a to a position of engagement with a driving member 47. When the pulley 38 is engaged with the driving member 44 the drum is rotated in the winding direction and when engaged with the rotating member 47 it is rotated in an unwinding direction. The pulley 38 is shifted from the winding position to the unwinding position in response to operation of a detector wire 50 comprising part of the linkage 22, supported by bracket members 5252 bolted to the side plate members 14l4. When the yarn breaks the detector wire 50 drops downwardly from the solid line position shown in FIG. 1 to the dotted line position and by way of a link 53 and other linkage described in the aforesaid Perry patent effects clockwise rotation of the arm 40, as seen in FIG. 1, about the axis of the shaft 34.

The spindle 18 on which the package P is to be wound is rotatably supported at one end for rotation about its axis at the forward end of an arm 54, the rear end of which is fixed by a clamp bracket 56 to a horizontally disposed shaft 58 for rotation about a horizontal axis spaced from the axis of the spindle arcuately relative to the driving drum 16 so as to enable movement of the spindle relative to the driving drum as the diameter of the package changes. The shaft 58 is journaled at its ends in spherical bearing elements 60-60 universally contained within bearing surface 6262 at the upper ends of posts 64,66. The post 64 is relatively fixed with respect to the side members 14-14 so that the left hand end or base of the package is relatively fixed, that is, rests on the surface of the drum throughout the winding operation. The post 66 is threaded and fixed to one end of an arm 68. The other end of the arm 68 is pivotally connected at 70 to one of the side plate members 14. By moving the arm 68 upwardly about its pivot 70 the post 66 at that side may be raised relative to the post 64 at the other side to tilt the shaft 58 upwardly and correspondingly tilt the spindle 18 relative to the drum. Tilting the spindle relative to the drum about one end will raise the surface of the package at the one end away from the drum as shown in FIG. 2 without disengaging the other end of the package from the drum. The tilting movement is effected by a rod 72 connected at its upper end to the distal end of the arm 68 and a cam roller 74 at its lower end arranged to have engagement with a cam member 76 secured to the weight 48.

In the normal winding position the cam member 76 occupies the full line position and in this position the cam roller rests on the downwardly sloping side of the cam member 76 so that the shaft 58 is supported by its bearings in a horizontal position. In the event that the yarn breaks, as heretofore explained, the arm 40 is rocked clockwise about the axis of the shaft 34 which in turn rotates the weight 48 clockwise about its pivot 48a. Clockwise rotation of the weight 48 lifts the cam member 76 upwardly as shown in dotted line causing the roller 74 to ride up on the slope and in turn raise the rod 72 upwardly tilting the shaft 58 and correspondingly tilting the spindle.

As previously related, it might be thought that the reverse rotation of the drum would scuff the broken end of the thread from the package, particularly since the surface of the drum is slipping relative to that of the package. In practice this is not entirely effective for although the broken end is scuffed up and loosened by the combined action of the drum and the centrifugal force developed, if not immediately picked from the surface it is repressed into engagement with the surface as it travels around into engagement with the surface of the drum. The condition of the freed end of the yarn for picking is thus not improved by repeated rotation. According to this invention, however, by lifting one end of the package relative to the drum repressing the relatively short freed end of the yarn into the surface of the package is eliminated so that each rotation of the package will free more of the yarn and thus enable the end finding nozzle N to readily find and pick the end from the surface for transfer to the knotting mechanism.

The package shown herein is a cone and by providing for an elevation of about one-half inch at the tip end the free end of the yarn became disengaged from the surface so as to be quite easily picked up by the end finding nozzle.

Although the invention is illustrated with respect to winding a conical package it is equally applicable to winding a cylindrical package. Also, while an end finding nozzle is employed to pick the yarn from the surface once it is loosened it is within the scope of the invention to employ other kinds of pickers for transferring the broken end to the knotter after it has been lifted from the surface.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and includes all modifications or improvements which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a winding machine, a driving drum, a spindle, means supporting the spindle for rotation about an axis in driving engagement with the driving drum and for pivotal movement about an axis spaced from its axis of rotation to permit the spindle to be moved relative to the driving drum as the diameter of the package changes, said support means being movable relative to the driving drum to tilt the axis of the spindle relative to the axis of the driving drum and hence to move one of the package away from the driving drum without disengaging the other end therefrom, a yarn detector and means operative by the yarn detector upon detection of a broken yarn to effect movement of the support means to move said one end of the package away from the driving drum.

2. In a winding machine, a driving drum, a spindle, means supporting the spindle for rotation about its axis and for arcuate movement about an axis spaced from its axis of rotation for movement relative to the axis of the driving drum to permit the spindle to move relative to the driving drum as the diameter of the package changes, said supporting means being tiltable to raise one end of the spindle relative to the other and to the surface of the driving drum, a yarn end detector and means operable by the yarn end detector to effect reversal of the driving drum and tilting of said supporting means.

3. In a winding machine, a driving drum, an arm, a spindle supported at one end of the arm for rotation about its axis, a shaft, means pivotally supporting the arm at its other end on the shaft the arcuate movement of the arm and hence of the spindle relative to the driving drum, bearing elements supporting the opposite ends of the shaft and means for effecting elevation of one of the bearing elements relative to the other to lift one end of the package away from the driving drum without disengaging the other therefrom.

4. In a winding machine, a driving drum, an arm, a spindle supported at one end of the arm for rotation about its axis, a shaft, means pivotally supporting the arm at its other end on the shaft for arcuate movement of the arm and hence the spindle relative to the driving drum, bearing elements supporting the opposite ends of the shaft, one of said bearing elements being relatively fixed and the other relatively movable and means for effecting relative movement of the other of said bearing elements to lift the shaft and hence the axis of the spindle relative to the driving drum.

5. In a winding machine, a driving drum, an arm, a spindle supported at one end of the arm for rotation about its axis, a shaft, means pivotally supporting the arm at the other end on the shaft for arcuate movement of the arm and hence of the spindle relative to the driving drum, bearing elements supporting the opposite ends of the shaft, one of said bearing elements being relatively fixed, a pivoted support to which the other bearing element is fixed, a rod connected to the distal end of the pivoted support and means for at times raising the rod.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, comprising a broken yarn detector and means responsive to said detector for effecting operation of said last named means.

7. In a winding machine, a driving drum, means for driving the driving drum in winding and unwinding directions, said means including a pivoted member, the position of which is controlled by a yarn detector to effect winding when the yarn is present and to effect unwinding when the yarn is absent, means supporting a spindle on which the yarn is to be packaged in driving relation to the drum for pivotal movement about an axis spaced from its axis of rotation to permit the spindle to move relative to the driving drum as the diameter of the package changes and means operative by movement of said pivoted member to the unwinding position to tilt the spindle support means and hence to raise one end of the spindle relative to the other to in turn raise an end of the package away from the drum without disengaging the other end therefrom.

8. ln a winding machine, a driving drum, means for rotating the driving drum in winding and unwinding directions, said means including a pivoted arm operable in one position to effect winding and in the other position to effect unwinding, a detector responsive to detection ofa broken yarn to move the arm from the one position to the other, means supporting a spindle in driving relation to the driving drum for rotation about its axis and for movement in an are about an axis spaced from the axis of the drum to permit the spindle to move relative to the driving drum as the diameter of the package changes, said supporting means being tiltable to raise one end of the spindle relative to the other and means operativevby movement of said arm to said other position to effect tilting of said supporting means. 

1. In a winding machine, a driving drum, a spindle, means supporting the spindle for rotation about an axis in driving engagement with the driving drum and for pivotal movement about an axis spaced from its axis of rotation to permit the spindle to be moved relative to the driving drum as the diameter of the package changes, said support means being movable relative to the driving drum to tilt the axis of the spindle relative to the axis of the driving drum and hence to move one of the package away from the driving drum without disengaging the other end therefrom, a yarn detector and means operative by the yarn detector upon detection of a broken yarn to effect movement of the support means to move said one end of the package away from the driving drum.
 2. In a winding machine, a driving drum, a spindle, means supporting the spindle for rotation about its axis and for arcuate movement about an axis spaced from its axis of rotation for movement relative to the axis of the driving drum to permit the spindle to move relative to the driving drum as the diameter of the package changes, said supporting means being tiltable to raise one end of the spindle relative to the other and to the surface of the driving drum, a yarn end detector and means operable by the yarn end detector to effect reversal of the driving drum and tilting of said supporting means.
 3. In a winding machine, a driving drum, an arm, a spindle supported at one end of the arm for rotation about its axis, a shaft, means pivotally supporting the arm at its other end on the shaft the arcuate movement of the arm and hence of the spindle relative to the driving drum, bearing elements supporting the opposite ends of the shaft and means for effecting elevation of one of the bearing elements relative to the other to lift one end of the package away from the driving drum without disengaging the other therefrom.
 4. In a winding machine, a driving drum, an arm, a spindle supported at one end of the arm for rotation about its axis, a shaft, means pivotally supporting the arm at its other end on the shaft for arcuate movement of the arm and hence the spindle relative to the driving drum, bearing elements supporting the opposite ends of the shaft, one of said bearing elements being relatively fixed and the other relatively movable and means for effecting relative movement of the other of said bearing elements to lift the shaft and hence the axis of the spindle relative to the driving drum.
 5. In a winding machine, a driving drum, an arm, a spindle supported at one end of the arm for rotation about its axis, a shaft, means pivotally supporting the arm at the other end on the shaft for arcuate movement of the arm and hence of the spindle relative to the driving drum, bearing elements supporting the opposite ends of the shaft, one of said bearing elements being relatively fixed, a pivoted support to which the other bearing element is fixed, a rod connected to the distal end of the pivoted support and means for at times raising the rod.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 5, comprising a broken yarn detector and means responsive to said detector for effecting operation of said last named means.
 7. In a winding machine, a driving drum, means for driving the driving drum in winding and unwinding directions, said means including a pivoted member, the position of which is controlled by a yarn detector to effect winding when the yarn is present and to effect unwinding when the yarn is absent, means supporting a spindle on which the yArn is to be packaged in driving relation to the drum for pivotal movement about an axis spaced from its axis of rotation to permit the spindle to move relative to the driving drum as the diameter of the package changes and means operative by movement of said pivoted member to the unwinding position to tilt the spindle support means and hence to raise one end of the spindle relative to the other to in turn raise an end of the package away from the drum without disengaging the other end therefrom.
 8. In a winding machine, a driving drum, means for rotating the driving drum in winding and unwinding directions, said means including a pivoted arm operable in one position to effect winding and in the other position to effect unwinding, a detector responsive to detection of a broken yarn to move the arm from the one position to the other, means supporting a spindle in driving relation to the driving drum for rotation about its axis and for movement in an arc about an axis spaced from the axis of the drum to permit the spindle to move relative to the driving drum as the diameter of the package changes, said supporting means being tiltable to raise one end of the spindle relative to the other and means operative by movement of said arm to said other position to effect tilting of said supporting means. 